


The Diabolic Disobedience Department

by MissAtropine



Series: The Diabolic Disobedience Department (Vol.1) [2]
Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Aemelia Vial (OC), Alternate Canon, Blood and Gore, Dancing, Dark Comedy, Dark Magic, Demons, Fun, Gen, Horror, Investigations, Monsters, Original Character(s), Other, Paranormal, Prequelle Era, Ridiculous, Rock and Roll, Smoking, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, The D.D.D, Vampires, irreverent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23393128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissAtropine/pseuds/MissAtropine
Summary: Darkwave Disco - Every weekend from dusk. We like to play into your darkest musical fantasies. Guests must be 20+ with appropriate ID. Enter at your own risk 'cause we dance until dawn, keep your eyes wide open. And yes, we do have free parking.- Part Two of Six, an unusual retelling of the last year of Era 4.
Series: The Diabolic Disobedience Department (Vol.1) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682716
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	1. Papa's Premonition

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to post earlier than planned as this next part is finished and ready to go!  
> Thank you to everyone who is bearing with this story, it's about to get a little more ridiculous...  
> Hope you enjoy this next part, hope to see you in the next one!  
> (If you haven't read Part One, I highly recommend doing so or this won't make much sense :) )

_February 15th_

The elevator may as well have been on its descent to hell whenever anyone set foot into it. It was an unbelievably long trip down to the bowels of the Ministry, only adding to the anxiety one would feel already from the impending presence of Papa Nihil. The walls rattled erratically, the draw cage in front - _worryingly worn from use_ \- retorted by violently shaking in protest. The cable mechanism underfoot screeched as the elevator descended lower, shuddering uncontrollably. _They really ought to invest in a new one..._

In the centre of it all was Cardinal Copia, dressed in his usual Ministry attire of a black cassock and biretta. He had his matching gloves clasped together and he kept on letting out intermittent yawns as he was still very much suffering with his bout of insomnia. He was hoping that Papa wouldn't notice his bloodshot eyes and anxious behaviour... he knew how the man could easily jump to conclusions.

He had been summoned by his superior once again via a rather aggressive letter and he could only sigh disappointedly as he thought back to it, wondering why he had been blamed for yet another issue that had surfaced. Papa Nihil had mentioned in his scrawled letter that the issue had been shown to him in a premonition, blatantly ignoring that such a thing would have _nothing_ to do with Cardinal Copia.

Since the year had started, the cardinal often received such letters on a regular basis, but he would never actually show up to the meeting slot that had been allocated to berate him. Luckily, it was a rarity if Papa actually remembered what he had written in the first place and as a consequence, the cardinal often got away with missing the appointments.

It was unusual that he was actually attending the meeting on this particular day, but it was clear that he wanted to at least deflect the blame elsewhere this time around. 

Finally, the elevator screamed to a halt and Cardinal spread out his feet to ensure he wasn't going to topple over, the floor vibrating forcefully. As soon as he was certain that it had stopped, he bolted forwards, unhitching the elevator's cage. It snapped back fiercely and he yanked his hands out of the way to stop them from being caught in the precarious action. 

His casual, cool manner returned as he stepped out of the lift, preparing himself for the company of Papa Nihil. 

The whole place was over the top with seclusion, the walls were thickly sound proofed despite being far, far beneath the ground to begin with. Papa Nihil had insisted on it existing as he was often paranoid that things were never _truly_ private in the Ministry above. For this reason, Cardinal regarded the area as "Grandpa's Basement" considering that it was a necessity to his superior.

Cardinal continued to confidently enter the long space, which was dimly lit with candles hung from the walls. Towards the back of the window-less space were the faint lines of a silhouette, and as he approached, they grew brighter. 

Papa Nihil was facing towards him expectantly, his white robes and decorations glistening even in the dim light. His eyes were already glued to Cardinal, but it was obvious that he wasn't exactly able to see clearly. He appeared to tense up as his subordinate stopped a few steps in front of him, and he shook his head in disapproval.

"Papa..." Cardinal greeted, stooping into a low bow in respectful acknowledgement. 

"It cannot go on like this." Papa Nihil began solemnly, ignoring the actions taking place before him. Cardinal frowned and barely concealed a sigh, straightening himself up in defeat. 

_"Five missing in two weeks."_ Papa added severely, aiming his underplayed frustration at the cardinal like he was somehow the cause of such occurrences. The cardinal wished to hide his eyes from the anti-pope and masked his actions by dipping his head slightly in respect, peering down at the hem of his own black robes.

"I thought the fiasco in London was bad enough, but the problems only _worsen,_ Cardinal. I am close to being _outraged_ but it is completely out of our control. We must face whatever is next for us, even _I_ have no power in stopping it."

Papa Nihil's words should have worried him, but he didn't seem to register them properly. He raised his head slowly, still avoiding his superior's dagger-filled stare by focusing on a nearby candle on the wall. He huffed out a deep breath like he was bored of the conversation, dismissing how concerned Papa appeared to be.

"Therefore, I leave any further problems, such as this, to you." Nihil went on, causing Cardinal to flick his eyes towards him in uneasy disbelief, it wasn't clear whether the younger man was content or _horrified_ by Papa's words. "Sister forbids me to assist you due to my age but, _by Satan,_ would I jump at the chance to solve a situation like this if I could."

The passion was clear in the old man's tone and the cardinal appeared to stiffen now that even more was apparently expected of him. 

"Si, Papa, of course. I understand." he responded as calmly as he could, hoping that Papa wouldn't detect his anxiety, as he began to quietly sway from foot to foot.

"You promise me, Cardinal." Nihil stressed, wagging a finger towards him like he was scolding a small child. "You promise that I can trust you to deal with what will be thrown at us next."

There was a small silence, which was laced with uncomfortable-ness. The darkness around them seemed thicker somehow, consequently the cardinal felt shadows weighing down upon his shoulders, eagerly awaiting his reply.

Copia slowly kneeled before Nihil, which caused the old man to tilt his chin in arrogance. He lifted his head, mismatched eyes glinting as he met the elder's impassable stare.

"I promise, your Dark Excellency." he assured with the utmost confidence that he had become so great at feigning, his eyes masked over in honesty.

"Good, now stand."

He followed Papa's instructions, averting his eyes from him now that there was no longer a promise to be made.

"May I request something of you, your Dark Excellency?" he asked, like he was anticipating that he was free to leave soon, though it was clear that Papa was nowhere near finished.

"Go ahead, Cardinal, but don't waste my time." Nihil retorted, narrowing his vacant eyes in annoyance... he loathed questions.

"I require the assistance of... Aemelia Vial, once again. She played a pivotal role before and - "

 _"I have already briefed the alchemist."_ the old man blurted out with displeasure, waving his hands in dismissal of the cardinal's trivial question like he had already spoken on the topic. 

_"Y-You have?!"_ Cardinal almost shrieked, his throat tightening due to his annoyed surprise at his superior's response.

"Yes." the anti-pope sternly stated, voice suddenly booming out like he was frustrated with the conversation. "She is a promising woman, and I knew you would not be able to complete such an important task on your _own."_

Copia looked startled as he glared at Papa's feet, a mixture of anger and bewilderment overwhelming him. He was supposed to be the next most important man to the anti-pope, so why hadn't he been approached first?

 _"She is keen to assist you, but Satan knows why... "_ Nihil murmured bitterly, confusedly looking about the private room like he was suddenly wondering why he was there.

Copia stayed quiet, holding his tongue before he said something he would regret.

"She will assist you in getting there." Papa continued absent-minded, his eyes staring off into the darkness like the man before him wasn't even there. "She had informed me that she can arrange transportation, but do not worry yourself, I did not mention your... _fiasco_ with the Rolls rental."

 _"... ah..._ thank you, Papa. That is most... _considerate_ of you." the cardinal almost hissed in return, eyes heavy with irritation.

"You are to retrace the steps of our missing Ministry members and see where it leads you, I have a feeling all is not as simple as it seems." the old man explained, like the actual task at hand was merely a pointless footnote, despite it being the most important thing. The cardinal took this moment to slowly raise himself to his feet, his head still lowered in respect of his superior.

"Well, what are you still doing here?" Nihil yelled in annoyance at the man's slow actions. "You best not keep the alchemist waiting, she's in the parking lot right now!"

"Of course, of course! I never like to _ah..._ keep a lady _waiting,_ you know?" the cardinal quipped in a stutter, wondering why Nihil could have been in such a foul mood that day... if he had actually properly listened, he would have probably understood.

Papa shook his head in response, his mouth in a stern line as the cardinal bowed and then twirled around, heading hurriedly towards the elevator. He briefly twisted back to shoot his superior a thumbs up. Papa sighed heavily in disappointment at the unprofessional sight of him, grimacing as a wink was sent his way, _"Don't worry, pops, I got this."_

* * *

Copia had no idea how long he had left Miss Vial waiting, but he decided not to consider the predicament too much. He was dressed head-to-toe in his freshly pressed black suit, his winkle-pickers had been expertly polished and his chestnut hair was neatly tamed back.

Upon exiting the main entrance of the Ministry, he held a large boom box over his shoulder with ease, gracefully hopping down each step on the staircase outside. As much as he would have loved to have had a soundtrack playing as he moved, he was reserving the music player's battery for the day ahead of him - his priorities were slightly skewed, given that the dilemma they would be solving was an important one, but he wanted to ensure it wasn't all doom and gloom, at least.

The gravel of the car-park soon crackled under his shoes, his legs stretching out elegantly as he purposefully strode across the deserted tarmac. Aside from a few cars in the distance, every parking space was vacant, and the cardinal couldn't help feeling a little annoyed... if _he_ were the one in power, he was sure that the car-park would be overflowing. It was an odd thought but he dropped his sense of entitlement for the moment, spotting a familiar figure leaning against the side of a car in front of him.

He almost stopped in his tracks as the sight of Miss Vial grew closer, but he kept his nerve, bubbling up with excitement internally. He soon neared her and stopped a few steps in front of her, his attention bypassing the sight of her to ogle the car she leaned her back against. 

The vehicle was a 1963 AMC Ambassador sedan, admittedly not the fastest or prettiest car, but he was fascinated with the very fact it was painted pure black. He had a slight interest in classic cars, much to most of his colleagues' boredom, so the sight of a genuine old car made him wide eyed with wonder. Without taking his eyes from it, he subconsciously lowered his music player to the ground, still ignoring his consultant occultist to take a closer look. Surprisingly, his lack of greeting didn't seem to bother her.

"It's a custom... it isn't quite finished yet. But I suppose it shall serve us well for now." she piped up in disappointment, her lips playing with idea of a smirk as he hummed with interest and stooped down to eye the finish of the paintwork.

As he continued to admire the vehicle, peering at the refurbished interior through the thick panes of smoky glass, Miss Vial obliged him, instead getting on with something she intended to be routine. She rounded the wing and released the latch, the tailgate springing into life. The cardinal, still glued to the finish of the car, blindly followed his subconscious sense of curiosity. His feet wandered in Miss Vial's direction of their own volition, and he stopped beside her, neck still stretched so that he could gander at the lines of the car like it was some flirtatious floozy.

"Papa Nihil instructed that I brought these along to assist us." she said monotonously, but her words easily caught his attention. "I trust there isn't anything missing?" 

She was leaning into the boot slightly, flicking her eyes over everything like she was making a mental note of what everything was. His eyes followed the direction of her own, and his brow furrowed slightly. Honestly, he hadn't the faintest idea what half of the stuff even was, but of course, he couldn't tell her that. What kind of cardinal would he be? He was the _best,_ the top of the Church... he couldn't allow the resident alchemist to know of a gap in his knowledge.

He felt her coal eyes searing into his face for a response and he licked his lips, nodding as he peered over the items in a casual manner.

"Yes, yes, it looks fine to me, Miss Vial. Though I'd say a few snacks wouldn't be a bad idea too, you know?" he remarked with a chuckle and she replied with an unimpressed _"hm"_ as she snapped the tailgate down forcefully, almost taking the end of his nose off. He felt heat rising to his cheeks as she carried on like he had never been there, pacing towards the driver side on the left. 

He frowned in bewilderment, standing up a little straighter as he wondered what had gotten into her. Then again she did seem to take that first case of theirs very seriously... and of course, he shouldn't have expected her to be so easy to succumb to his jokes anytime soon.

He must have zoned out for quite a while for the next thing he was aware of was the sight of Miss Vial popping her head out the window, a distasteful expression on her face as she leaned her fist on the horn.

"Okay, okay!" he said highly, waving his hands to-and-fro in hopes that she would stop making a noisy scene in front of the Ministry entrance. He began to make his way to the passenger side, crunching the gravel beneath his winkle-pickers.

 _"L'impazienza sarà la tua fine..."_ he muttered before swinging open the car door and sliding in with a simple amount of ease. He carefully pulled the door closed, brushing his left elbow against her right. She pulled away from him like he'd burnt her but she was really just annoyed that so much was now expected of her, she almost felt like she was to be his carer considering how Papa Nihil had briefed her.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked, spying the lonely boom box in her side mirror. 

"Ah _shit..."_ he mumbled, scrambling back out of his seat to throw the door back open. 

A series of light bongs sounded out through the vehicle as she huffed in irritation, spying him lugging the thing up from the floor in the side mirror. He let out sounds of effort as he carried it to his side of the car, flinging open the back door to carefully slide his revered boom box across the back seats. She narrowed her eyes in judgement as she watched him in the rear-view mirror, snapping the seat-belt over it like it was a child. After a caring pat, he left the boom-box and slammed the door shut, the whole vehicle rocking from such a violent action.

Finally he sat in the passenger seat again, pulling the door shut which stopped the persistent bongs that had been ringing out this entire time. She breathed out in relief when she heard the click of his seat-belt and strapped herself in too, wondering whether she was beginning to regret accepting what Papa Nihil requested of her.

The engine revved into burbling life as she twisted the key that was in the ignition and Copia nodded his head in approval, examining the car's peripherals with enthusiasm. It seemed to have standard internals, but he couldn't help noticing the fact it had a tape player. Suddenly his efforts to lug that boom box around had seemed so pointless, but he sighed in dismissal.

The car began to move off and he pulled down the sun visor, unaware that his curiosity was starting to piss his colleague off quite a bit. She hadn't expected him to be so impulsive and irritating, he had been nothing like this on their first case - she was starting to wonder what had gotten into him, but for the time being, her focus was on her own driving.

He slammed the sun visor back up after catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror and sniffed, shuffling into a more comfortable position so the head-cushion of the seat acted as the perfect pillow.

"I didn't realise I was to be your chauffeur as well, Cardinal." she suddenly spoke, loathing the silence between them, she certainly didn't want it to last. "You hadn't mentioned that when you wished for my assistance."

"You think a man can drive the morning after _Valentine's night?"_ he quipped, sniffing again as he peered out of the right window, observing the outside world. "That is very _optimistic_ of you, Miss Vial."

She deeply exhaled at his humour, her black eyes dead ahead as her two hands steadily manoeuvred the steering wheel. It was clear that she wasn't exactly in the chipper mood that he was.

"I'm surprised you spent the night with anyone." she retorted honestly, his eyes shooting daggers of disbelief at her. "Light me a cigarette, would you?"

He blinked at her like she had just asked him to open his door and chuck himself out, but he examined the interior of the car anyway, trying to find what she had requested.

"Glove box." she prompted causing him to pull out the slanted drawer in front of him, which was brimming with cigarette packets and the odd sealed can of diet-coke. He shot a worried glance towards her but said nothing, clutching hold of one of the packets so he could slide a single cigarette out.

"So... where are we going?" he suddenly asked highly, tossing the packet back into the glove box and kneeing it shut in one swift movement. 

"Surely Papa Nihil has told you?"

"Ahm... he goes a little sparse on the details for me." he replied, leaning down as he unhooked the cigarette lighter, his eyes wide as he cautiously pressed it to the end of the cigarette. 

"Right..." she murmured, her brow furrowing in deep bewilderment as she briefly leaned herself towards him, parting her mouth. He slid the lit cigarette between her lips and she leaned back to her previous position, her concentration still very much on driving.

"You have no clue what this investigation is about, do you?" she realised, raising her brows as ash began to fall from the end of her cigarette and land on the black fabric of her trousers.

He smiled with shameless uncertainty, nodding to himself as he replaced the cigarette lighter. 

"Yep, absolutely no fucking idea."


	2. The Diner

Aemelia Vial seemed to know exactly where they were headed, and had been completely silent up until an hour into driving. For once, Cardinal couldn't complain about the silence between them, seeing as he'd pushed a tape into the player and the anthemic tunes of _The Cult_ filled the soundless void. Considering that she was so busy concentrating on steering the car, he busied himself by routing through a basket she'd pointed out underneath his seat. He rested it over his lap and hugged his arms around it, surprised at the weight of it. The sound of clattering plastic caused Aemelia to narrow her eyes in annoyance as he tossed cassette cases aside to study other ones. It was filled to the brim with an array of tapes spanning a variety of different eras - it was like a _goldmine_ to him, it seemed.

He shuffled through them, humming in interest over the countless cassettes of _Alice Cooper_ and _Sisters of Mercy,_ their cases scuffed from the amount of use they had presumably endured. As his black gloves dug deeper, he visibly froze in his seat, blinking his eyes like he was checking he wasn't in some kind of surreal dream...

He spied a familiar piece of album artwork towards the bottom, the de-saturated red of the image clearer than the rest... it was practically in _pristine,_ condition. The sight of _Prequelle_ made him clear his throat and he pushed the mountain of tapes over the top of the album to cover it entirely. 

His mind was racing with confusion... Miss Vial was a _Ghost fan?_ He sunk down in his seat slightly, sliding the basket of cassettes over his legs, unable to get rid of his expression of wide bewilderment. 

As he dropped it on the floor of the car, he kicked it with the backs of his heels, shoving it under the car seat like it was a skeleton in a closet. She could have at least _said_ that she liked his music, he reasoned, feeling heat rising to his cheeks. He peered out of the window, feeling even more awkward the more he thought about it... it should have been no big deal to him, but he just... _hadn't expected it._

The next ten minutes of the journey were strange for him, he spent most of the time looking out of the window on his right, desperate to keep as far away from her eyes as possible. His change in behaviour was completely obvious to her and she sent a glance that was framed with a frown his way, turning a dial on the music player to turn down the volume of the music slightly.

"Right, _what is it?"_ she questioned bluntly, her black eyes returning to the road ahead, her two hands grappling onto the steering wheel like she was gripping on for dear life.

He fidgeted in his seat like a toddler that needed to pee, dusting down the front of his clothes even though there was nothing on them. He scanned his eyes over the floor, waiting for his mind to formulate some lie, but all he could focus on was that _his_ damn album was part of _her_ music collection. He couldn't deny that he was _flattered_ but... it was completely uncool to him that his colleague enjoyed his music. It was an odd way of viewing it, but it made sense in his mind.

He licked his lips, readying himself to spew out some ridiculous lie, until his eyes darted to the sight of something out of his window... a road-side diner, its parking lot bustling with vehicles that were leaving and arriving.

"I'm _starving."_ he replied quickly, smiling to himself now that he had reasoned his awkward behaviour. "You hungry?"

"We're a little... _busy,_ Cardinal."

"Ah shush, we can't work on an empty stomach. _C'mon!"_ he argued playfully, pressing the tip of his nose and his gloves to the glass as the diner grew closer.

She huffed at his unprofessional-ism, but she hadn't the energy to argue with him, so she slowed the car, flicking on the right indicator. He leered through the window at the restaurant, getting a sense of what kind of people were occupying it as the vehicle smoothly pulled into the small yet cramped parking lot. 

It was quite a few minutes before the black sedan pulled into a free parking space, but once it did, Aemelia breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Cardinal threw off his seat-belt as soon as she pulled the handbrake, yanking the handle of his door so it would open... yet it snapped back fiercely.

"Mother _fff..._ ucker!" he yelled, ensuring he rolled the final 'R' to emphasise his discomfort. He shook his hand as the sharp pain travelled through the pores of his gloves and onto the skin of his hand beneath.

"I see you found the Cardinal-Lock." Aemelia quipped, not even cracking a smile as she stared straight forwards, peering at the sheer drop on the opposite side of the road - funny, she hadn't noticed it while she had been driving before...

He glared at her with hurt but he was truly taken aback by her playful poke. She had always seemed so stern whenever they had been together so far, but he realised that she was perhaps unravelling herself to him slowly. She subtly leaned to her left and flicked the lock on her side, the universal unlock sound clunking throughout the interior of the vehicle.

The cardinal seemed slightly low in spirits as he hurriedly exited the car, accidentally slamming it shut. Aemelia briefly frowned at his carelessness, resting her arm over the steering wheel so that it acted as a soft pillow for her forehead.

She felt like she was in the company of an awkward, hormonal _teenager_ when she was with him, and quite honestly, it was hard work to keep a good level of professionalism. Unfortunately she could already see herself losing track of her priorities with a loose cannon like him in her company. She could see why he was so successful as a satanic cardinal... he was ever so good at coaxing a person into doing things, whether they were aware of it or not.

She sighed and closed her eyes, wondering what Sister Imperator would think if she could see the pair of them then: they were adequately prepared to solve the mystery of the missing members of the Church, yet there they were, resting at a greasy burger joint, ready to fill their faces with fast food. The more she thought about it, the more _ridiculous_ it seemed - the cardinal really wasn't taking this investigation seriously at all, and she didn't see him changing his attitude any time soon.

Leather clad knuckles rapped on the glass window next to her head and she jumped out of her skin, resisting the urge to curse as Cardinal peered his alarming eyes through the window at her.

"You coming or what?" he asked daringly, his voice muffled from the glass. 

Once she turned the key, the engine shut off and he quickly backed away. She shot out of her seat and made sure she was overly careful closing her door, gently using the key to lock the vehicle. She thrust the car keys into the inside pocket of her blazer, wearing a scowl as she turned back to face her colleague... who had already leapt the space of the dusty car park and was currently using his spindly arms to open the diner doors for a young Italian woman. Aemelia couldn't have scowled harder if she had tried, rolling her eyes when she approached him, unaware that her walk across the car-park had caused several cars to blare their horns at her.

As the young brunette woman passed by, she shot the cardinal a worried stare and hurried over to a car that was still honking away. The cardinal hadn't expected a thank you but he wondered why the woman had such a nervous expression as she looked at him.

"Perhaps people aren't used to manners around here." Aemelia piped up having noticed the confusion on his face, wishing they had never set foot towards the place already.

"Yes, perhaps." he murmured, continuing his way into the premises with his consultant on his tail.

The sight of the two of them arriving together was almost comical. The elegant posture of Cardinal was alluring but almost intimidating from the way his eyes surveyed the burger joint, unlike Miss Vial, who was slouched and huffing out in apathetic annoyance. 

Inside, it was the most idyllic fifties-style diner either of them had ever seen. The floor was decorated in black and white tiles, polished to perfection... aside from the odd fried potato or breadcrumb. Three rows of customer booths filled the bulk of the place, incessant chattering and laughter erupting out to the point where the music from the juke-box was almost obscured. There was a long silver counter towards the back of the place, lined with cherry red stools and the backs of contented customers, tucking into ice-cream sundaes or meat-filled sandwiches that would probably fill you up for a month.

Considering it was located in a non-specific rural area of Italy, the fact it was packed out with people was odd to them both. Families squabbled, couples sipped large milkshakes through straws, elderly people snored away with half of their food down their fronts... 

There didn't appear to be much space for anyone else at all. Yet from the way Cardinal straightened himself up and cleared his throat, stroking his hair to ensure that it was slicked back in place... Aemelia knew that there would end up being space for them somehow.

They waited by the entrance which had been cordoned off by a red rope, the cardinal waiting patiently with a glove flat over his chest. He wasn't the sort of guy that clicked his fingers together and demanded service - _like his predecessor, Papa III_ \- he would oblige whoever was about to serve him and wait as long as he needed to... much to Miss Vial's impatience.

"Aren't you going to get their attention?" she whispered, noticing a few customers had flicked their eyes towards the two of them, the start of panic striking across their distant features. "Not to be a _kill-joy_ but we _do_ have work to attend to..."

"I know, I know." he whispered back, a laid-back smile adorning his mouth as he noticed that a waitress was hurriedly rushing towards them, her hands shaking with nervousness. "You see, Miss Vial, be patient and you shall _receive_." 

The waitress soon arrived by them, chestnut eyes averted to the floor as she unhooked the rope before them. 

_"D-Due?"_ the young girl squeaked out, gulping audibly like apprehension was overwhelming her. The language barrier caused Aemelia to narrow her eyes in interest, she may not have understood the language but she could sense the waitress was anxious about something.

_"Sicuramente, solo due."_ Copia replied in the friendliest tone he could muster. _"Spero non ci siano problemi?"_

_"No, ovviamente no."_ she spluttered out, swivelling away from the them as she motioned a hand to follow her. _"Mi segua, per favore."_

Eyes drilled into the two strangers, the fear evident as the customers landed their attention on Cardinal as he elegantly strode behind the waitress, cutlery clattering as hands began to shake from fright. The waitress was quivering too, her hand wavering as she gestured towards a dining booth, standing as far away from them as she could without it being too rude. The cardinal seemed to be oblivious to the strange behaviour going on around him, but Miss Vial certainly wasn't, blatantly narrowing her eyes at the lot of them as she scanned her gaze around the room.

"After you, Miss Vial." he insisted, extending out his arm towards one side of the cosy booth.

She obliged him and slid over the red vinyl wrapped seats, the feel of the fabric of her trousers scraping across it causing her to grit her teeth. He mirrored her actions, taking his place on the opposite side of the table, gently tugging at the front lapels of his black suit to ensure they were still neatly in place. 

The waitress was still loitering by their table, brown eyes alert as beads of sweat formed at her brow. The cardinal was unaware of her presence, snatching up the plastic menu, already pointing things out to himself with the tips of his black gloves. Aemelia caught hold of the waitress' stare, her black eyes strong and scrutinising... everyone's behaviour in the restaurant was odd and in her eyes, uncalled for. So she played into their fears, searing her eyes into the waitress like the two of them were taking part in a staring contest. 

"Barbecue ribs... _Mmm..._ They do _barbecue ribs,_ Miss Vial!" Cardinal exclaimed highly, briefly flicking his eyes up from the menu to settle on her. He froze at the sight of her animosity-filled manner, and opened his mouth, ready to ask her why she was set on acting so intimidating...

"I'll have a diet-coke." she mumbled mindlessly, feeling the eyes of her colleague on her as he attempted to try and work out her game. "What are you having, Cardinal?"

The waitress tore her eyes away from Aemelia and latched onto the cardinal, and she appeared to shake even more, not daring to hide the fact she was terrified of the two of them. Her eyes glared at the silver shimmering Grucifix upon his breast and it seemed she couldn't look away.

"I'll... _ahm..._ I'll have a black coffee, the darkest you have, heh." he replied, sending a reassuring smile towards the waitress who obediently nodded and tore away from the table, hopping down the aisle to take care of their drinks like her life depended on it. "Huh, very eager staff."

"You really haven't noticed?" Aemelia asked in a hushed tone, leaning over the table so that he didn't have to strain his ears over the worried chatter around them to hear her. 

_"What?_ Noticed what?"

"Everyone's staring at you..."

"Well, I can't say I blame them..." he sighed out with confidence, leaning his head back against the cushioned head-board of the red seat. "It is not every day that they see such a good looking cardinal, no?"

She hummed in unimpressed thought, flicking her eyes around the occupied tables around them. The stares of the customers were now fully averted, like they were avoiding the table's existence entirely. 

"You don't think they're all Christians, do you?" she whispered sincerely and he snorted in amusement, lifting up the plastic menu again, his tummy churning from his immense hunger. 

"It wouldn't surprise me, Miss Vial. If that is the case they have still accepted our presence here.. they must still want our money, ah?" he quipped with a smirk, sensing discomfort from the tables around them due to his brash comment.

Before she could reply, the waitress appeared and dumped their drinks over the table hurriedly. As Cardinal slowly reached for his cup of coffee, the woman yelped and jumped away from the table like she had presumed that he was about to attack her in some way. He frowned deeply at her actions and wrapped his glove around the cup with ease, the heat of the mug warming his cold hand. 

_"Avrò le costole."_ he spoke lowly towards the waitress, his voice a lot more irritated than before. He was peering into the swirling black liquid inside his cup, narrowing his eyes like he was trying to judge whether it was dark enough for him.

_"Sì, sì, naturalmente!"_ the young woman pushed out, nodding obediently with wide eyes as she wrung her hands worriedly.

"What are you having, Miss Vial?" he asked sincerely, giving Aemelia the most hardened stare she had ever received from him... clearly he was getting annoyed by the presence of the staff, and rightly so.

"I'll have the cheeseburger."

Cardinal turned in his seat slightly, his head angling towards the waitress as he prepared to translate Aemelia's order. But before he could say a word, the waitress muttered something under her breath and nodded, running off down the aisle to see to their order.

The flash of fury struck across Copia's face for a second and he held his right hand out in the direction the waitress had fled.

"Are you fucking _kidding_ me?" he whined in disbelief, shaking his head. "She understood you _perfectly?_ Why did I even bother with my mother-tongue, _fuck."_

Miss Vial swallowed back the urge to laugh at his pointless effort, not wishing to grate his nerves further. It was strange that they were taking their time to eat fast-food but she couldn't say that she disliked it. If anything, it was almost like she was discovering more about the cardinal, so it wasn't entirely a waste of time. The more she knew about him, the better.

"So... you really have no idea what we're in for?" she questioned, wishing to change the subject so he had something other than his own annoyance to focus on. 

"Correct." he responded shortly as he slid a ceramic salt-shaker across the table to encapsulate it with his leather palms, studying its guise with interest - it seemed out of place considering it appeared to be a cute, simplistic take on Dracula. 

"From the stuff Papa insisted on me bringing... I can only assume it's nothing good, Cardinal." Miss Vial added, her expression serious as she hoped he would stop getting so easily distracted.

"Ah _c'maan,"_ he replied with a small smile as he flicked the vampire salt-shaker across the table until it hit the divider beside them, the whole thing wobbling precariously. "there's always some itty-bittie good in everything, you just wait. We will get there, it will be simple as pie, and we will leave feeling a fuck-ton better about ourselves. Just like last time." 

As much as she smirked in admiration of his optimism, she couldn't have disagreed more.


	3. Staking Out

_"This_ is the place? You are _sure?"_ Cardinal questioned, peering out of the sedan's window with speculative eyes. 

"I'm fairly certain, yes." Aemelia replied, her hands still holding onto the steering wheel, the engine lowly rumbling like it was half-expecting a foot to slam down on the accelerator soon. 

She had followed Papa Nihil's directions down to the last letter - there was no way that the cardinal was going to persuade her to leave now. He'd used up her one allowance of hearing him out back at the diner, so they were to investigate there, whether he liked it or not.

"It _ahm..._ I mean, are you sure? Kinda looks a little run-down..."

She frowned but didn't give him her attention.

"Well this is apparently where your Clergy members went, Cardinal. If they would have been to a fancy hotel and gotten kidnapped, would it be more _comfortable_ for you?"she snapped in monotonous pessimism, finally turning the ignition in order to stop the engine, signifying that she had made the final decision that they were indeed investigating.

 _"Good point, good point..."_ he murmured, nodding his head with the realisation that the situation wasn't supposed to be one that was easy _or_ enjoyable for him. "You know what, you stay in here. I will go check it out myself, ah? You sit back, relax... I got this, ok?"

Her mouth wavered as she resisted the urge to laugh at his sincere offer and she actually stared at him, raising her brows in surprise when he was staring straight back. 

"You've _got this,_ have you?" she retorted, her black irises swimming with mirth as she slouched comfortably in her seat and dropped her hands from the steering wheel. "Alright, then. It's a deal."

Copia nodded at her in challenge and instantly threw off his seat-belt, opening his car door with a sense of urgency. He was acting like it was a race and dashed out of the vehicle on his spindly legs, spinning around as he slammed the door shut. The black tails of his coat wafted behind him as he shot across the curb and onto a pathway, headed for the establishment that Miss Vial had pointed out.  
  
It appeared to be a rather unassuming building, coated in beige plaster, hanging baskets filled with wilted flowers lining the walls like some kind of hidden warning. The windows were boarded up with scratched wooden panels which were sealed with staples and duct-tape. The more he analysed the building's appearance, the more it looked like some kind of _drug den,_ but the cardinal's curiosity got the better of him. He insisted that there had to be more to it, considering there was someone _guarding_ the entrance of the place...

With utmost confidence and no hesitation at all, he sauntered up towards the guard - a tall, bulk of a man, who adorned a smart pale blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a palette of ink-work over his forearms. His suit pants were _far_ too tight for him and made it seem like his legs would burst out of them at any second... though they were hardly a patch on the tightness of the slim trousers Copia wore.

Aemelia watched from the driver's seat of her car, her eyes searing into the back of the cardinal's head. She was surprised at how casually he approached the stranger, who seemed to extend himself across the doors to the place even more now that Copia had asked him something. She huffed out in impatience as Cardinal appeared to twirl around on the spot, extending his arms out towards the entrance of the building. The guard merely shook his head, muttering something under his breath as he crossed his arms over.

 _"What the fuck is he doing?"_ she murmured emptily, shaking her head in disapproval from the erratic performance of gestures she could see... he could have at least been a bit more... _subtle._

Cardinal's gestures only seemed to grow more exaggerated and she could tell he was suddenly exasperated with the guard, swiftly kicking his heels as he sharply swivelled away. He stormed back towards the sedan, wearing a great sulk on his face, arms besides him lifting up and down with purpose as he marched. 

Aemelia inhaled sharply and averted her eyes from him, preparing herself for his presence. She straightened herself up in her seat, closing her eyes briefly as the clunk of the opposite door opening rang out. He forcefully threw himself into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut with frustration.

She ignored his existence as a surprising spell of silence fell over them - until he struck a gloved fist down to punch the dashboard, loudly cursing out in Italian when the action had been a lot more painful than he had anticipated.

"Please don't abuse this car." Miss Vial stated in subtle discontent, already clicking her seat-belt in place as she sensed what had caused his frustration.

"Sorry, sorry..." he murmured apologetically, holding his gloves up in surrender as he sighed out to calm himself. "I... I am just... that guy was so far up his own ass that I could see his _sphincter,_ you know? It was un-fucking-believable."

She stayed motionless and silent, risking a glance towards him. He seemed tense and annoyed - his expression was that cold and severe that she wouldn't have been surprised if it could intimidate an entire army. 

"He also mentioned that we are not permitted to enter the building during the day." he replied optimistically, completely ignoring the sight of her gritting her teeth due to his words. "Party opens at _seven_ apparently."

 _"Party?!_ Hang on..." she cried out in exasperated confusion, shooting the guard an irritated glance from her place in the vehicle. "This means I'm gonna have to... drive us _all_ the way back to the Ministry... then _all_ the way back _here?!"_

"Yep." he replied shortly, slyly raising his leather-clad middle finger in hopes that the guard would spot it through the glass of the wind-shield.

 _"Fuck."_ she exhaled, hurriedly turning the keys in the ignition, mentally screaming out that she had to spend another few car journeys with the inefficient man beside her.

Although it hadn't been the intel she had hoped for, at least Cardinal's information was somewhat useful to the investigation. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad at the whole investigating thing after all...


	4. Making an Entrance

The sight of Cardinal Copia stepping out of the black Ambassador sedan in his freshly pressed red suit was something that understandably turned heads. Unlike the irritable demeanour he had carried for the majority of the day, he looked as calm and collected as ever now that he was in the prime of night-time, holding himself up straight and proper, his chin raised up into the air. His suit still clung tightly to his form, accentuating how slender and slim he was, the tips of his black shoes almost reminiscent of a clown due to how they slightly curled upwards.

Rain trickled down from the night sky and he calmly closed the door of the vehicle, lifting his right glove into the air, which had steady grip of a black parasol. In one swift movement, the umbrella sprung up into life, shielding his form from the downpour in split seconds. 

Aemelia Vial emerged from the opposite side of the vehicle having locked it shut, looking the same as she always did. Although she hadn't changed her clothes to suit the party they were about to intrude on, she had made the effort to add thick black rims of eyeliner to circle her dark eyes. She was a minimalist when it came to having a good time, it seemed.

Cardinal had already jetted off towards the nightclub, drawn to the muffled sounds of the thumping beat coming from inside - he was a _sucker_ for a party, no matter what kind it was. He would always seek out its source, keen on joining in on the action. His mind was fixated on the promise of a good party - _rather than the investigative reasons they were there_ \- and Miss Vial's existence to him seemed to be forgotten for the time being. 

It wasn't long before he reached the entrance to the place. The tall tattooed guard from earlier in the day was still present, grinning due to the fact that Cardinal was blocked from entering. Copia stopped dead in his tracks and his ears finally registered Miss Vial's footsteps on the pavement. Finally, he acknowledged that someone else was with him and he shook his head, wondering how he had blanked his consultant. 

Aemelia scooted beside him, stood as close to his side as she could without touching him, the raindrops ceasing to drip across her head once he had readjusted his umbrella to shade over both of them. Internally he was cursing himself for acting so rude towards her, why had he not shaded her from the rain sooner?

_"You again..."_ the tall man stated with disappointment, eyeing the Cardinal with suspicion. "You have no need to be here, be on your way."

The raindrops pattered down upon the taut material of the umbrella overhead, the leather of Cardinal's gloves creaking from the tightness of his grip.

"You see _this?"_ he asked, using his free hand to gesture towards the shimmering emblem upon his left breast. "You know who I am, ah?"

Aemelia looked incredibly uncomfortable due to his feigned sense of the authority but she plastered her expression over with indifference.

"I am Cardinal Copia and I demand you allow me inside. This instant."

The door-man raised his brows and dropped his arms from their crossed position.

"You _are?_ _You're_ Cardinal Copia, from the _Ministry?"_

Copia laid a hand over his chest and nodded his head once, unable to bow due to his umbrella duty.

"Huh, I thought you'd be _taller._ Hell, you can come in for sure, Cardinal."

The two of them took a few steps forward but the man outstretched a hand, motioning for them to halt.

"But _she_ can't."

For a second Cardinal looked more devastated than she could have ever imagined seeing him, but it soon passed as his jaw set and his discontent was apparent. The last thing Cardinal needed right now was another wave of annoyance after the day they'd had.

"No no no, this won't do. Do you know who this little lady here is, ah? She is the head of the D.D.D, a department so... _bad-ass_ it had to surpass Double-Ds." 

The cardinal looked like he was full of enthusiasm as he spoke about her, eyes brimming with ardent excitement about Aemelia's true hidden abilities as he awaited the door-man's response. His passionate pitch about her made her visibly confused and honestly she wasn't sure whether she was so comfortable with how praising Copia was towards her in that moment.

The door-man was stern and silent, clearly not interested in Cardinal's sales pitch or impish humour.

"The... _D.D.D?"_

"Yes, their _finest_ consultant - " he added eagerly, leaning forwards so he could whisper. " - and ahm, between you and me, I really want to... _impress_ her, you know? I had to bring her to the finest party place in all of Europe... just to..." 

He tailed off and exhaled out a high whistle, gesturing a thumb towards her with his eyes wide in exaggeration. The door-man grinned knowingly at what Copia was insinuating and backed off, his alert stance easing slightly.

"Go on in, Cardinal." he ordered with a shake of his head, snatching the umbrella from the cardinal's hands forcefully. He swung his head almost inhumanly towards Aemelia, and she shot him a quizzical look, realising something wasn't quite right...

"Have a pleasurable evening, _little lady."_

She gritted her teeth but was soon shocked when Cardinal firmly looped his arm around hers, making her forget about the strange comment altogether. He powered forwards, dragging her through the main doors without any hesitation.

_"Love 'Square Hammer' by the way!"_ the door-man yelled after them as they fled into the dimly lit hallway ahead. In all honesty Aemelia wanted to say that she did too, but she kept quiet, sensing the man's praise somehow made Cardinal more disgruntled.

Despite being unaware of their surroundings, he was confident, leading her through the darkness like it wasn't there at all. It was as if he had been there before, but it was clear he hadn't due to how brazenly curious he was acting.

After a good fifteen seconds, figures started briefly appearing as outlines around them, idle footsteps dense over the slippery velvet carpet.

As they descended down a dark staircase, the only source of light was now from violet black-lights. The pulsating beat of outrun music was gaining in frequency, sounding clearer and clearer with every step as Cardinal continued to confidently lead the way. It was strange how wearing his red suit seemed to unleash him that little bit more... either that or the _Square Hammer_ comment had really got under his skin and he was powering himself on pure irritation.

The place was buzzing with individuals of all kinds - it was an eclectic hub of gothic enthusiasm. The only unspoken similarities between the occupants of the club was that they favoured a dark palette of colours and enjoyed the otherworldly atmosphere of the place. Suddenly the issue both Cardinal and Aemelia had encountered upon entering made sense to the two of them, given that they didn't quite fully adhere to the implicit expectations of the place. It was odd how a simple flaunt of a title and the addition of a fabricated department had been suffice for them to gain entry.

Before they got any closer to the main interior of the venue and the music drastically increased in volume, Aemelia decided to speak on the matter.

"The D.D.D?" she prompted with her voice peaking in interest and it caused his stubborn tugging of her arm to cease. He slowed, forgetting about the arm he had entwined around her own and let out a strained chuckle.

"Well I had to say _something,_ Miss Vial. I couldn't leave you out in the rain, you would get all damp." he replied easily, a bold smile curling across his lips.

"Really?" she retorted with feigned amazement, nodding ahead of them as a prompt for him to continue leading the way - he instantly obliged. "And you come up with _that,_ what is it even supposed to stand for?"

_"Aaaahm... "_ he hesitated, hitting a rather high note like he purposely wanted to draw out her lack of knowledge... or maybe he was just apprehensive of what he was about to say.

She blinked at him, completely serious in expression but her eyes were undoubtedly amused because of the situation.

"The Diabolic Disobedience Department." he stated so quickly that he actually took a deep breath after pushing it out in one go.

"The Diabolic... _Disobedience_ Department?"

"Exactly, Miss Vial."

"Wow, you've... _really_ thought about this Cardinal, haven't you?" she questioned with genuine surprise, her voice raised now that they neared an archway which led into the main venue.

"Well what else was I supposed to write on your insurance forms?!" he yelled over the loud synthesizers and the simplistic pounding beat, ducking down to ensure he didn't hit his head on the peak of the low archway. "I couldn't write your Ministry profession or they would never pay out appropriately, you know?"

She shook her head in amused nihilism, yanking her arm away from his grasp. He frowned at her actions but sniffed it off and neatened the front of his suit with a flat palm. 

The two of them entered the main bustle of the club shoulder-to-shoulder, their shining eyes cutting through the magenta-tinted darkness, surveying their fresh surroundings. 

The lighting was minimal and heavily reliant on illuminated bulbs which precariously hung from the tall ceiling, violet sprays of light scanning over the dancing crowd below. The dance-floor was packed with silhouettes of varying heights and sizes, all swaying, jumping or rolling their hips to the music in harmony.

The carpeting underfoot was a plush indigo but thick enough so that it wasn't easy to slip. Cardinal's shoes rustled over it, already unknowingly heading in the direction of the bar area though his eyes were still drawn to the enticing sight of the dance-floor. 

Aemelia also couldn't look away, but she held no curiosity in her stare... she looked undeniably aloof about everything, though she did quite like the eighties throwback music they were listening to... she supposed their dancing was _somewhat_ understandable. Realising that Copia had gained some distance, she quickly jogged towards him to catch up, thin purple lights stringing out in a spiked mass in the air between them. 

Cardinal's presence stuck out like a sore thumb amongst everything in the club, the deep red of his suit glaring every time a particle of light fell over him. Aemelia soon caught up to him, the synthesizers fading slightly now that they had dodged around the crowded dance-floor. His struts seemed like they were timed to the rhythm of the song for quite some time and she sighed, rolling her eyes at how much he appeared to be enjoying everything.

He started heading up the few steps up to the bar, dipping down as he turned back to face her. He motioned a glove towards her in hopes that she would hurry up a little more, he didn't want spend long grabbing a drink before entering the compelling heart of the party. She didn't oblige him and he paused, wearing an accusing stare, he opened his mouth, raising his voice over the ambience of the place.

"C'mon, let's settle in. We mingle, grab a couple of drinks - "

"I don't drink." she retorted curtly as she reached his side, pushing by him like he was suddenly in the way. He reluctantly followed her with cautious steps, his eyes wide with surprise... from how she was he had presumed that she would be the sort of woman who enjoyed a tipple, apparently he'd gotten his assumptions completely wrong...

"That is... fine, Miss Vial." he assured as they headed to the glossy black counter of the bar. "But you must _at least_ have a drink of some kind, no? Or you will get _very_ dehydrated in here..."

"Diet-coke will be fine." she replied simply, already taking a seat upon a metallic stool shaded by the overlap of the counter. She briefly took note of her surroundings, narrowing her eyes at how sparse of anyone it was, the only other person present was a member of staff. She hadn't been to many clubs, but she knew that something about the lack of people around the bar wasn't right...

Cardinal cleared his throat in preparation to gain the bar-maid's attention, leaning onto the bar with a single elbow as he used his other hand to smooth back his hair. He caught the bar-tender's attention with ease and the woman wandered over to stand opposite him, blankly blinking at the charming expression on his face.

"Ah, hello there, I hope you are having a wonderful evening." he began with dalliance in the strains of his voice, his expression giving away his attempt at flirtation. "I will have a glass of your _finest_ red wine, and my friend here, she will have a diet-coke."

He gave the woman a wink and she turned around in disinterest, obediently scooping up glasses to assemble their drinks. Aemelia loudly huffed out and held a palm over her eyes, not wishing to have to watch his flirtatious failure.

A silence fell over the bar, the sounds of glasses clinking and the pouring of liquid the only thing audible over the slightly muffled outrun music from the dance-floor. Cardinal swayed to the beat a little, clearly eager to grab his drink and head off into the party crowd.

Once the woman slid their drinks over the bar, he immediately focused his attention on her, reaching forwards to hold onto Aemelia's in order to pass it to her... but she had already latched her hand onto it, scraping the bottom of the glass over to the part of counter where she was sat. He ignored her rejection of his help and wrapped his gloved fingers around the spine of the wine glass, lifting it up in celebration as he nodded towards the woman behind the bar.

_"Ehh..._ put these on _her_ tab..." he whispered to her, quickly flicking his eyes towards Miss Vial before he exhaled loudly and placed the rim of the glass to his lips. The woman nodded and he smiled briefly before he tipped his head back, loudly swallowing down the entire glass of wine in one attempt.

He cleared his throat and Aemelia still had hold of her own drink, sending him a confused glance. He beat his hand over his chest like he was signifying it had been a good lot of wine and immediately turned to Aemelia, extending out a hand towards her.

_"Dance?"_ he asked, half choking from the warm sensation of the wine that coated his vocal chords.

"Fuck no." she refused with exasperation, shaking her head in disapproval of his actions. "I'm going to stay here, I can keep a good eye on things if anything out of the ordinary happens." 

_"Okie dokie."_ he sighed out in disappointment, nodding his head in understanding. "I will... ahm... head onto the dance floor, see whether anything _spooky_ is happening there, you know?"

"We'll split then." she agreed effortlessly with a nod of her head, a light frown gracing her brow as he smiled broadly at her.

She narrowed her eyes at his visible eagerness to be an addition to the party, knowing his want to dance was nothing to do with the real reason they were there. But she supposed having two different points of surveillance wasn't a bad idea...

_Surveillance?_ She really did _overestimate_ how much he _cared_ about their investigation...


	5. He Thought It Would Be Sexy

The Cardinal could feel the pull of the people around him. The dance-floor was packed yet he snaked himself through, drawn to something he couldn't quite describe, but it made his heart beat that little bit faster.

Aemelia watched from her place at the bar, clutching the cold glass of diet-coke. Her eyes were fixated on the glaring red tailcoat, a bright splodge amongst a sea of black clothed individuals. She wasn't particularly impressed that he was essentially ditching her to be the soul of the party, but she supposed that it _was_ his whole ethos, so she sat there and narrowed her eyes, loudly sipping her soft-drink in the hope that she would be left to her own company... 

A dark-wave track played over the speakers, bodies rocking side-to-side in time to the punching beat. Their moves only made Cardinal's desire to follow the supernatural pull even worse. He turned to his right so that he could slide into gaps between bodies more successfully. The sound of his tailored coat brushing against the leather clothes of those he passed reminded him of a scratched record and honestly, it only added to the awkwardness of the night which he was probably ruining by interrupting their dancing.

It wasn't long before he had arrived where he had been drawn to. There was a small group of gaunt, ethereal looking people stood close together, swaying to the rhythm of the music. Their eyes were hooded over, irises rimmed with glowing claret which cut through the darkness of the club effortlessly. Their pull was impossible to resist and the cardinal could only chase his sense of fascination, his legs unable to stop even if he wanted them to. He came to a halt before the four of them, eyes wide as he suddenly realised he had no plan of how to introduce himself... considering the fact he had merely followed a whim, truthfully, he had no idea why he was there in the first place anyway...

The three of the four, who were female, continued to dance, ignoring his existence for the time being, too lost in the thumping of the music to care about his presence. The one that had stopped however, turned around, his eyes gleaming impossibly amber as he extended out a finger-less glove towards the cardinal. 

The cardinal, still under some sort of trance, reluctantly lifted his right arm and the man jolted towards him, snatching hold of his forearm. And then he was pulled into the midst of their group, the four of them now syncing up their movements around him. He opened his mouth as he stayed still, the surreal circle of beautiful people around him causing him to rub the sides of his temples in confusion.

One of the women leaned towards him and grabbed hold of his wrists, easing his hands away from his head. She loosened her grip and nodded towards him. From what he could gather, she must have wanted him to join in with their movements and he shrugged, really wanting to decline but he figured he'd stick with the odd situation for now... in truth, something was _compelling_ him to stay.

Despite Cardinal being a completely elegant and accomplished dancer, when out on the town, he wished to have fun in the easiest way possible... once he began to dance in time with their movements, they seemed to falter in surprise. His moves were reminiscent of a drunk uncle at a wedding, and from the slight frowns on their faces, they must have been expecting something else from him entirely.

Ignoring the surreal sight of his simplistic and ridiculous dance moves, they closed in on him and he cleared his throat at their uncomfortably close proximity, their fronts brushing up against him to the point that he could feel the shapes of their bodies through the leather layers of their clothes. He parted his lips in preparation to ask them to back off a little, sensing their eagerness was laced with an ulterior motive... 

As Cardinal took part in the sexiest of group dances, Miss Vial was half-way through her second glass of diet-coke, holding it up in the air to study the sight of the melting ice cubes. She huffed out a depressed sigh and slammed it back onto the bar, swallowing back the urge to burp. 

She decided that she would see what Copia was up to, considering that she had been faced away from the dance-floor for quite some time and swivelled around on the bar-stool, adjusting her plaits into a neater position so that they laid over her collarbone. She frowned in unease as the stark red of his tail-coat was nowhere to be seen, the mass of dancing clubbers engulfing any chance that she would have of ever finding him.

It didn't take much for panic to set in, and she bolted from the stool, heading towards the dance-floor, regardless of her fear of the party-going public. She couldn't lose sight of him now, if _he_ was to go missing she hadn't a clue what she would do...

Hands gently held him in place, some others sliding down his arms, his chest, his back and each side of his neck. Cardinal was so stunned by what was happening that he just allowed them to continue, amazed how they were treating him like he was Papa Emeritus III, who had been known to draw _gatherings_ of people whenever he had been on a night out. He couldn't help noticing how similar it seemed around him then, the glinting of salaciousness in their strangely coloured eyes. 

By all means, Cardinal was flattered by their attraction to him but in the back of his mind he was taken aback at how they moved against him so publicly. His mind didn't linger upon such a thing for long, a wave of desire suddenly overwhelming him like it had been dished out in a sudden hit to hush any of his curious thoughts on the situation.

He could tell they were having some kind of supernatural effect on him, desire being chained to him like it was a night-long sentence. He fought away the feelings of lust and focused on the people around him, narrowing his eyes in exploration of each of their faces, wondering what their aim was... could they have been some kind of _sirens?_

Desire flooded his mind again, battering back his questions of whether they were some kind of creatures, causing his heart to pump even faster. Unfortunately, they underestimated how surprisingly controlled the cardinal could be.

"You took my fellow Clergy like this, did you?" he whispered simply with a sneer, sensing foreboding in the air, ignoring their trap which was littered with silent promises of pleasure. Their hands paused over him and whatever spell they had on him seemed to start to fade. Instead, it was replaced with the feeling of maliciousness from the four of them, their faces still displaying expressions of intoxication.

"We did." the flawlessly pallid one answered, fluttering her eyelashes at him even though he wasn't gazing upon her. "But _you_ are far more intriguing, your scent is... _delectable._ Such a shame you had to come in here to investigate, you certainly won't be coming back out..."

He felt something spiked and needle-like graze over either side of his throat and wrists, his eyes widening with realisation.

_"Wait!_ Wait! _Ehh,_ come on now. I am sure we can come to some... _agreement,_ ah? I know you must be thirsty but you can't keep taking members of our church. Our numbers are already dwindling so... it would be great if you could make me less paperwork by choosing some other unfortunate fuck, you know?"

"So you _are_ Cardinal Copia then..." one of them murmured, their lips wet against the pulsing flesh of his right wrist.

He wanted to struggle as the sharp tips of teeth returned, brushing over his pulsating veins, but he played it cool. Internally he was panicking and far more uncomfortable than he had initially realised, amazed by their strength as they held him in place. 

"Sure, sure..." he brushed off, like he hadn't a clue what was publicly known of him - then again, it's not like he read the opinions of _Vampire Weekly._

"But your sinners are so _delicious,_ we could hardly stop, dear Cardinal." the female one with olive skin replied, breathing over his skin in hopes that desire would return to him soon... 

"Okay, _that_ I _can_ agree upon, but c'mon, you have _aaall_ these others to choose from - "

"What makes you think that they are _human?"_ the third woman chimed in, causing the others to giggle in spine-chilling unison.

The cardinal parted his mouth in concern, his mismatched eyes the size of saucers as he realised that the situation was completely out of his control. Before he could say anything in reply, the male snatched hold of his forearm, lifting it up before his very eyes. Cardinal attempted to pull his arm away, but the young man had already tipped his head back to unsheath two canines, glinting from the violets and magentas of the dim lights above. He bit down upon the cardinal's right wrist, a torrential flood of red trickling out from the two fresh incisions. Copia winced from the irritated feeling, hissing out in protest as the warm fluid rolled into his sleeve and gathered in the crease of his elbow.

Before the others could do the same, the male lapped up the blood and Cardinal groaned in pain as a consequence. He supposed it could have been a lot worse... but, who was he kidding - it felt downright _terrible._ His head felt dizzy and he found himself falling back involuntarily, but hands seemed to catch him, his liquid life-force seeping out of him, extreme weakness winding him to the point he was no longer able to speak...

Aemelia pushed her way through the dance-floor, cursing and spluttering as a few people turned towards her and attempted to convince her to dance with them. She elbowed them in reply and zig-zagged through the mass of dancers, spotting an opening that was vacant of anyone. As she burst free of the public, her face turned ashen at the sight ahead of her. 

There was a discrete booth in the corner, occupied by four thirsty vampires. Copia was propped up across a table in the middle, his eyes heavy from lack of energy - or more likely, blood-loss.

She inhaled sharply and immediately pivoted around, launching herself back into the dancers, who were oblivious to the bloody scene occurring less than ten yards from them. A frenzy of thoughts ran through her head as she fought her way out of the dance-floor, scrambling out towards the long exit corridor of the club. She jogged along the length of it with ease, not wishing to go any faster or she would likely slip from the velvet carpet underfoot. 

She passed by the door-man who was seemingly unaware of the situation inside, and gave her a friendly wave as she shoved by him, "Going so soon, little lady?"

Rain beat down upon her form heavily and she growled in annoyance, smacking her feet faster over the pavement below. It felt like _hours_ rather than seconds when she reached the Ambassador sedan, which was gleaming like an ethereal prize before her due to the raindrops and vibrant moonlight. She scrambled hurriedly, knowing time was of importance and fished her keys out of her blazer, her deep crimson plaits now a dark mahogany from how drenched they were. 

She wasted no time and rounded the rear of the car, violently shoving in one of her keys to unlock the tailgate. It popped open immediately, shading her from the heavy downpour momentarily. Her breathing was quick and shallow, her chest rising and falling quickly with panic, but she remained focused, splaying her hands over every item in the trunk, cursing the fact she hadn't got a source of light.

She felt around, chucking away any square items she could feel, cursing when she couldn't seem to find whatever she was looking for. 

"Where is it?!" she hissed loudly, eyes wide with fear as her hands moved faster, discarding one thing to quickly move onto another. As her hands continued to rifle through the many supplies of defense for a variety of supernatural entities, her mind fixated on the image she had seen... the cardinal would have barely blood left if she carried on at this rate, and she really didn't want to have him die on her watch, no matter how irritating he could be. 

As her thoughts of him turned to slight fondness, her mind already decided that she had failed, her hand latching onto something wooden and dense, gnarled and spindly. She exhaled and actually smiled with triumph, yanking the item out of the trunk immediately, keeping hold of it with her elbow against her side as she quickly snapped the tailgate shut and fiddled with her keys to lock the vehicle. 

The assault of rain pelted down upon her again and she sprinted across the pavement, narrowing her eyes to stop the droplets invading her vision. She slipped her keys back into their rightful pocket and held onto the spiked stake in her right hand, siphoning it upwards so it was hidden beneath the sleeve of her black blazer. 

She felt adrenaline surge through her body, the soles of her oxfords slapping against the sopping puddles over the pathway, her eyes locking onto the entrance of the nightclub. She slowed, approaching the doors once again and the guard at the door stepped in front of them, shaking his head. She skidded across the puddles on the floor to halt before she flew into him, spraying him with salty droplets and grit.

He dropped his crossed arms and gestured both hands towards his attire in disbelief, clearly saddened by his soiled clothes. 

_"Out of my fucking way..."_ she muttered darkly as she purposely shoved by his shoulder, finding at least a little bit of relief to her panic by doing so. She bolted through the long black-light corridor, a few heads turning her way in confusion. Her heart was racing from worry, the possibility of Copia being dead when she returned forcing her to blink away stinging tears. 

It wasn't long before she was pushing and jabbing her way through the mass of dancing bodies again, their sensual movements only adding to how depressing the situation was for her. The dark-wave music pounded her temples and she fought against the sea of dancers faster, her breathing in rags once her eyes spotted a slither of a gap in the distance. She powered towards it, the spotlighting pulsing out into intermittent flashes of blackness. Her heart sunk as the space grew closer, her elbows pushing downwards to force those around her to back away. Many cursed her for her actions as she left the obstacle of the dance-floor, her black eyes settling on the occupied booth that she had spotted before.

The small pack of vampires were still there, surrounding Copia to hide the fact they were feeding from him. As Aemelia approached, she gritted her teeth and hardened her eyes, disgusted from the sounds of their slurping - they were drinking him like he was merely a _milk carton._

Now that she was closer, she could see that they had laid him out across a rounded table, his arms splayed out with one creature to a wrist. Two others resided behind him, cradling their mouths around each side of his neck. His eyes were blacked over entirely due to his eyes being shut, his skin devoid of any colour. Thin trails of scarlet droplets soiled the torso and sleeves of his red tailcoat, the darkness of his blood standing out distinctly despite the colour of his attire.   
  
"Fucking vultures." she murmured, already extending her arm out so that she could draw out the wooden stake with ease. Her eyes narrowed in challenge, the sight of their oblivious feeding urging her to consider vomiting. But she resisted, swallowing back her disgust. 

"Oi! Fuck faces!" she roared, determined rage surging through her veins as they continued to suckle on the cardinal, regardless of her loud protest. "I don't think Papa Nihil would approve of me returning to the Ministry with the _corpse_ of his next-in-line..." 

Three of the four moved their mouths away from Copia so they could all let out amused laughs, like they had some underlying joke that she wasn't aware of. She took a few steps closer, her eyes scanning over the extremely pale cardinal, concern pinging her heart in a heavy stab. She was unaware that they were ridiculing the spiked weapon in her hand, their amusement pricking her ears from how high pitched it was.

"You think you can just _stake_ us?!" one of them laughed out as they wiped their fingers over their bloodied lips and licked the tips of their fingers clean. 

_"Of course I do."_ she retaliated venomously, her eyes shading over in warning, thick obsidian present in her eye-sockets. To any human the sight of her would have been alarming, but the vampires were howling in laughter, presumably on a high from one of the purest sinners they had ever tasted. 

Her tolerance of their childish behaviour finally snapped and she wordlessly drew her left hand up into the air, gripping onto the sharpened stake with enough force that it should have probably snapped. She leapt forwards into an attack, lunging towards the nearest creature in her path. The weapon struck dead into the chest of the olive-skinned vampire, and the female screeched out in pain, black particles of energy meeting at the acute point of contact. She screeched out like she was raising some kind of unhallowed alarm, shaking violently beneath the needle-point of the stake. 

Aemelia's hold was steady, and her eyes glazed over as her entity's power took hold, bleeding the undead creature of its very existence. Her anger seemed to influence the entity that resided within her, her teeth gritting in irritation as the vampire's screech raised in pitch, her ears aching from such a sound. The vampire wavered erratically, the others scampering out from the private booth. One creature managed to fluidly sprint away, whereas the other two ducked under the table as they awaited the opportune time to make their escape.

The female that Aemelia had pinned into place soon erupted vigorously, the feel of fleshy obstruction around the stake falling away with ease. Their crying faded into a distant memory as their form puffed into nothing but simmering black dust, the pathetic sound of their death causing the party on the dance-floor to pause, amid the shock of what was happening. The black particles naturally seemed to be finding a route towards Aemelia, floating elegantly through the air like a flowing ribbon. 

The place was deathly quiet, other than the sad echoing of a dark-wave track now that many were starting to flee the scene. A few opted to stay, gazing upon the sight of the pale cardinal with concern.

The two vampires that were hiding under the table thought that the silence meant that they were off the hook, and manoeuvred their way from beneath the table-top, smiling victoriously...

Until their paths were blocked by Miss Vial, who didn't have the patience to draw out their suffering this time. She stabbed them casually like she was doing nothing but giving them a firm, playful prod in the chest and they hissed an obscene series of outcries, exploding into cascades of glistening black energy. The mass of particles flurried towards her in an eye-catching display of twists and turns, though she seemed completely oblivious to its existence, sliding her weapon back up her sleeve.

She hurried over to the rounded table where Cardinal was splayed out and it seemed that he was completely inert. 

"Cardinal!" she pushed out in a worried whisper, unable to muster a louder volume of voice as she shook his shoulder in hopes that it would waken him, but it only caused a ripple of blood to pool out from two neat incisions on his neck. 

_"Fuck!"_ she yelled in startled exasperation, breathing out harshly as she wrestled her hands inside the pockets of her blazer. She huffed out in annoyance, and unbuttoned her jacket as quickly as she could so that it would allow her more access to what she needed. She pulled out a folded patch of material from her inside pocket and used her left hand to start taking off her blazer. 

She hurriedly leaned across the table and pressed a the patch of fabric onto the oozing wound, concerned when she saw other incisions over his neck and adjacent arm. She kept pressure on his neck and pushed him away from the table slightly, sliding her jacket around his shoulders in hopes that it would at least keep him a little warmer. His skin was so cold and pallid, in all honesty she would be surprised if he was even alive. 

Yet she continued to act like she believed he was, using her left hand to unhitch the ebony tie from around her neck. In order to hold the patch of fabric in place, she swapped hands so that she could knot her tie around his neck, careful that she didn't tie it too tightly so that he could at least breathe if he was able. As she double checked its tightness, he wheezed sharply, the strain of the tie over his windpipe causing him to choke back into consciousness.

Aemelia let out an audible exhale of relief, regardless of his discomfort, lightly pressing two fingers to the free skin of his opposite jugular, double checking that he had a pulse despite his splutters of discontent.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked in a small voice, finding every part of his body aching an unreal amount.

"I'm double checking that you have a heartbeat." she replied shortly, leaning back in even more relief when he certainly did. He was still incredibly pallid and his eyes were only cracked open, like he had no energy to open them fully. They'd feasted on him so much that she was surprised he was even coherent at all... then again, she supposed that he must have had Satan on his side when it came to strange occurrences such as this one. Apparently, she was beginning to realise that Copia was actually quite a resilient individual.

He groaned in displeasure as she linked her arms around his waist and when he made no effort to help her, she persisted and grew annoyed, feeling the eyes upon the two of them. Eventually, she prised him up and his eyes widened in surprise, his arms stiffly outstretched either-side of him. 

He was limp as she elbowed him upwards, his feet touching the floor. 

"Are you able to walk?" she asked, realising she should have probably asked him before yanking him up onto his feet.

"Ah, the legs are not so bad, you know... strong legs..." he slurred, blinking as his head lightly swayed from side to side. In fear that he would topple over, and still very much needing to vacate the place, she sighed in defeat and lifted up his left arm, wrapping it around her shoulders. She acted as his crutch and powered forwards, his weight leaning against her effortlessly.

They made slow progress across the expanse of the club, headed towards the long exit corridor. She was surprised that what she was doing was actually working, but she should have expected it to, as the cardinal wasn't exactly a heavy man. 

"I thought it would be _sexier,_ you know?" he admitted quietly with a little choked chuckle as he staggered towards the right, but she steered him in the correct direction. "Turns out it feels like you're fucking _dying..."_


	6. She Doesn't Believe Him

Copia was laid out over the back seats of the sedan, his skin still almost as white as a sheet. His arms were stiffly splayed out across the backs of the seats, his head falling backwards to lean on the cushioning for extra support. His wounds had finally stopped oozing once Miss Vial had placed him in the back of her car. He was incredibly grateful for her coming to his aid, but he felt so strange that thanking her didn't even occur to him and he closed his eyes, deeply inhaling to ease the feeling of his lack of blood.   
  
The door on his right side was open, raindrops pattering down over the shining puddles on the pavement outside. A draft swamped the interior of the car and he exhaled, shivering slightly as the cool air contacted with his face. 

Miss Vial was busily tossing all sorts of items in the trunk around, muttering curses when she hadn't found whatever she was after. She paused upon hearing him groan in discomfort from the cold waves of breeze surrounding him and it caused her to wear a focused frown, her hands rifling through the tangled mess of equipment. She was internally chastising herself - if she hadn't have panicked so much earlier then everything would have been in a neat position where she could easily have found the items she needed...

As the sounds of clinking bottles, scraping stakes and clunks of heavy boxes resumed ringing out, Copia's eyes grew heavy and he found himself being hurtled into an involuntary dream-like state. His body felt weightless but he couldn't move, his form was riddled with goosebumps as another chilling gust blew into the vehicle, a few brown strands of his hair straying from the neat slick over his head to abide by the rules of the creeping draft. 

The rummaging in the trunk seemed to reach a peak and it eventually stopped, causing him to hum in wonder. Aemelia slammed the tail-gate down with ease, wrestling her way around the sedan as she hugged a bundle of supplies to her chest. She darted into the rear of the vehicle, raindrops dripping from her form as she shuffled further inside to reach him. 

His eyelids were entirely closed now, hiding the sight of her concerned expression from the drunken-like stare of his conflicting irises. She assembled the items in her hands, placing down a roll of fresh bandages, cotton pads, first-aid tape and a waxy bottle on the part of free seat in between them. She wished she had more to work with, but it would do for now until she could find more adequate help for him.

She scooted closer to him and appeared a little more relaxed now she could see the rise and fall of his chest, adjusting the black blazer she had draped across his shoulders to gain better access to his bites. She picked up the translucent brown bottle of witch-hazel, analysing his neck wound like she was deciding how much she needed. She passed the bottle between her hands as she ensured her shirt sleeves were properly rolled up, her blackened irises hardened with determined concentration. She slid out a clean cotton pad and wasted no time in unscrewing the bottle to lather the clear liquid over it. She tightly screwed the bottle lid back on and discarded it carelessly over the seat next to her. 

She inhaled sharply like she was really hoping he was out of it and leaned over his splayed out form, immediately preparing to press the sodden pad onto his most problematic wound. The corners of his mouth twitched as he felt the warmth of her body heat approaching him, which soon turned into a incoherent smile as she brushed her elbow over his chest. 

His ridiculous smile soon fell as soon as she pressed the cold witch-hazel to his wound and he knitted his eyebrows together, gritting his teeth in painful discomfort. 

_"Yowch!"_ he hissed, his toes curling inside his shoes as a stinging sensation began to emerge from the pressure that she was applying. _"...testicoli di Lucifero,_ that fucking _hurts."_

Aemelia kept a straight face but her eyes were filled with mirth at the disgruntled expression on his face. She doused his wound throroughly, each time she brushed against the incisions making him clench his jaw in quiet distress.

"Is that _witch-hazel_ I can smell?" he grumbled through his clenched teeth, his voice still high-pitched out of intrigue and incoherence.

"Yep." 

"You are not supposed to use this on fresh wou - "

"Would you rather I left these bites to get painfully bruised and infected so that I'd have to drop you off at the hospital?"

_"No, no! No hospital."_ he replied quickly, his mind still completely fried though it was clear that his reputation was still heavily important to him and very much on his mind.

_"Good."_ she commented without so much as a smile to show her approval, knowing how much it would have hurt his appearance if he was forced to enter a public space when he was littered with crisp vampire bites. "You can grin and bear this for now then."

"Of course, of course..." he murmured, feeling dizziness overcome him entirely to the point where it was almost like he was entering some kind of drunken high. She noticed his head lolling backwards and raised an eyebrow, realising his mind was probably reeling with nonsense due to his recent blood-loss.

She removed the soaked cotton pad from his skin, evaluating the sight of the wound before she nodded, tossing the pad away before collecting another one. She thought she would find giving Cardinal first-aid trivial or awkward, but it wasn't so bad considering he seemed very out of sorts... which was lucky for her.

He stayed still as she repeated the same treatment on the other side of his neck, half-leaning across him. Although the stinging pain had returned he snorted out a laugh and wore a silly smile, feeling the damp ends of her plaits tickling his chin. He continued to giggle to himself, finding something about how she was tending to him incredibly entertaining. She ignored his chuckles and continued to ease his wound, her black eyes darting towards the door as someone ran over the pavement outside.

Her caution subsided and she returned her attention to the cardinal, who was sighing in relief but still mumbling chuckles under his breath. She rolled her eyes and threw the cotton pad somewhere behind her, dousing another one as she took hold of his right arm. 

She firmly gripped around his forearm and pulled his coat's sleeve upwards to reveal a pair of neat bites over his wrists. She grimaced at this particular wound as it had already started to bruise over and it honestly looked an unpleasant sight. She pressed the pad over his wounds and he actually opened his eyes in shock, presumably the stinging pain was a lot stronger this time.

He caught her attention instantly and immediately, she noticed that he looked like he was almost intoxicated as he looked at her, even his blinks were out of sync. She stared back at him, giving him a blank expression as she waited for him to inevitably say something. 

He licked his lips and tilted his head to the side, his dream-like state finally merging with the real world around him.

_"You are very beautiful, y'know?"_ he murmured with breath-filled confidence, oblivious to the fact she was truly hearing his blatant confession. He looked up at her as his chin tucked into his chest which caused the arm she was tending to waver uncontrollably as he chuckled at her lack of words.

"Sh, stop moving." she chided like she was scolding a child, pinning his limb still with a firm grip from her other hand.

"Ah shush, _you don't believe me?"_ he questioned defensively like she had outright insulted him, his mouth open in disbelief.

"Of course I don't, you've lost quite a large amount of blood. It's no wonder that you're speaking even more bullshit than usual." she reasoned, feeling the start of a wave of heat rushing to her face - she swallowed back her embarrassment for the time being and filled her mind with the task at hand instead.

"Sure, sure, I taste the edge of death and I _lie?_ Fanculo." he quipped sharply, dramatically flinging his head back which caused her grip on him to loosen slightly.

"I said stay _still,_ Copia!" she scolded loudly, dragging him back into the original position that he was in.

He winced at her frustration and he could feel the passionate resilience rattle through him as she firmly pressed the cotton onto his wound again. He hissed in discomfort but knew in the back of his mind she had saved him from something he didn't know whether he could have escaped by himself.

He kept his mouth tightly shut as she continued to dress his wounds, and after doing all four bite locations, she wrapped them all with clean bandages as best as she could, securing them with sturdy white tape. 

"Right, we best leave for the Ministry, I'm sure someone will be better equipped to help you there than I am."

"Yes, yes." he mindlessly agreed in a hushed tone, attempting to nod until he realised it was an impossible action due to the bandages wrapped across his neck. She moved away from him and he winced as the cold air replaced where she had previously been.

_"Wait, Miss Vial!"_ he yelled as she stood outside of the vehicle now, her black oxfords scraping over the pavement as she hunched so that she could stare at him in anticipation of his words. "Would you be able to help me into the front? I wish to - "

_"Nope."_ she responded quickly, bending back up into her usual stance to slam the door firmly shut. The vehicle rocked to-and-fro from her action which caused another wave of dizziness to wash over him. 

For once, he had realised that he was expecting a bit too much from her. It was such a shame that his realisation never seemed to actually teach him anything...


	7. Their Terms

Miss Vial stepped down onto the accelerator firmly, the engine growling into life as the rear wheels skidded into motion over the drenched tarmac. 

Cardinal was leaning his head against the glass of the left window, still splayed over the seats in the back. Even though she had tended his wounds, he was still very out of it and couldn't quite register everything that was going on. He slid to-and-fro as the sedan sharply rounded a corner, causing him to audibly mumble in soreness. He managed to crack his eyes open, focusing on the snippet of her face in the rear-view mirror, her black eyes full of concentration.

He wasn't exactly sure what speed the vehicle was going as he couldn't quite turn to look out the windows beside him, but from her consistent gear changes and controlled turns of the steering wheel, he could gather that she wasn't hanging around. The night life of the lively town evolved into blurred images through the windows, the rain beating harder and harder as the car picked up some speed.

Silence lingered for quite some time as they travelled further and further from the small urban streets of the town, back towards to rural roads which were now thick with navy darkness. The black sedan would have been hidden to the eye were it not for the great beaming lamps on the front of the vehicle, light spewing out to illuminate the few yards of world ahead. Although the darkness was oppressive causing driving to become considerably more difficult, Aemelia found the atmosphere of the night exhilirating and strangely _helpful_ \- after all, she and the cardinal were sat in the safety of a tin box on wheels that was made in the sixties... the car was practically an impenetrable fortress. If they were to run into something else she didn't seem particularly concerned.

"Are we there yet?" Copia slurred out, his limp form bouncing up and down uncontrollably as they hit a couple of ridges laid over the road. His childish question didn't quite irritate her, if anything, she found it understandable given his recent blood-loss. She was sure he would be fine for the time being, but she couldn't deny that she was driving with a panicked sense of urgency.

"I'm afraid not, Cardinal. But I'm trying to get us back to the Ministry as fast as possible, alright?" she reassured, sniffing in confusion as scented particles of smoke filtered through the vehicle's ventilation. Her eyes darted to every mirror available as she tried to spy the source of the worrying smell, but there wasn't anything obvious to her.

"You... you are too kind, Miss Vial..." he admitted, his slow intonation of his words giving away that he wasn't completely present in his head. "... you have done all the things tonight that I could never do..."

"What? Like _driving?"_ she quipped playfully, briefly acknowledging him in the mirror to ensure he wasn't about to pass out... although for her concentration's sake, she really hoped he would.

He chuckled weakly at her response and shook his head, wearing a silly smile over his mouth. Anyone in his position would have probably been anxiety-ridden from the attack he had survived or sweating buckets from the thought of the vampires hunting them down... but nothing of the sort even entered his head, it seemed that he was latching onto his optimism and feeling a sense of indifference about it all.

"You _saved_ me..." he murmured quietly, like he actually didn't want her to hear but she could quite clearly. "... I thought that you wouldn't give a rat's ass... "

She frowned deeply at his confession of previous expectations of her, clearly quite upset that he would even think that of her. She knew she could come across distant and cynical, cool and uncaring, but she wasn't so immoral that she would have left him there to become a vampire's squeezed carton of blood-flavoured capri-sun. In that moment, she was visibly disappointed in herself for coming across that way, grateful that Cardinal seemed too out of it to pick up on her expression of upset.

As much as she wanted to reply to him, she clamped her lips together, knowing that if she spoke he would hear the tremble of sadness in her tone. And him worrying about her was the last thing she needed in that moment, she had to keep a level-head and stay as calm she could...

"You think we have time to... stop by and grab some _donuts?"_

Her eyes glared at the cone of road that was lit up ahead and she shook her head in disbelief, intrigued that his mind seemed to be subconsciously flowing out through his mouth. To be honest, she was glad he seemed to have forgotten about her actions towards him for the time being.

"I fuckin' love donuts... Glazed ones. Iced ones. Fruit butter ones. Extra sugar? _Mmm..._ those bad boys would be devoured faster than a family of couch-potatoes in a house full of cannibals."

She continued to pull various expressions of confusion but dared not intervene with his ramblings - she supposed he was _entertaining_ her rather than badgering her, so couldn't really complain. He tittered to himself as something else must have crossed his mind, his chuckles growing in volume with the more seconds that passed. As he was soon launched into a laughing fit, she narrowed her eyes in the rear-view mirror, black eyes filled with amusement at the sight of him laughing his head off... she wasn't sure if that night could get any more surreal than it already was.

"What's so funny?" she inquired, causing his giggles to subside so that he could answer her.

"Heh... just - _hhh -"_ he cut off into another amused wheeze, tears springing out of his eyes, trickles of thin black paint trailing down his cheeks. "Just... I was... I managed to pick up _four_ vampires!"

He burst out laughing again like it was somehow hilarious to him, but from his reaction she could only assume that he had never picked up anyone at a club in his life. She wore a small smile of amusement and shook her head, trying to block out his contagious snorts and wheezes of laughter.

After a few minutes his amusement died down and he closed his eyes, adorning a broad smile that looked absolutely ridiculous on him. It didn't take long for him to slip into slumber, light snores escaping his throat as he sunk deeper and deeper into sleep. His mouth fell open slightly and his snoring became louder, Aemelia's hands tightening around the steering wheel at the sound.

Her eyes flicked towards the rear-view mirror and widened in alarm, spotting the sight of two beams of light headed towards the rear of them at a catastrophic speed. Its engine revved so aggressively that small wafts of smoke were starting to rise up from the hood of the car, heat invading the air that they breathed as the scent of smoke grew stronger.

Aemelia muttered a curse under her breath and swerved to the edge of the road slightly, inviting the other driver to pass by - but it slowed down to the speed she was driving at, ominously lingering as close to the back of the sedan that it could get without touching it. She spied through the rear-view, the figure in the driver's seat nothing but an indistinguishable shadow... with glowing amber eyes.

She growled in frustration - why did these vampires hold such a _grudge?_ Sure, she'd eliminated a handful of them but it was all in _retaliation..._ couldn't they just let things go?

The flashy sports car suddenly shuddered and the engine snarled like it was a battle-cry, its bumper dishing out one merciless thrust towards the rear of the black Ambassador, sending it flying forwards, the tyres screeching out from the unexpected speed it was picking up. The sports car easily caught up with it, the flaming amber eyes of the enraged driver piercing into the back of the cardinal's head like he was somehow to blame for something.

It closed in again, this time giving the sedan a thundering ram, the whole of the car dashing forwards which caused everything in the interior to slide forwards. A tape that had been half-hanging out of the music player was forcefully eaten up by the machine, the volume somehow obscenely loud as _Rebel Yell_ began to roar through the constraints of the vehicle. Copia had been thrown into a more vertical sitting position, his bandages caught on the thin tubed fibres of the seats, the friction setting off the pain he had forgotten all about.

_"The fuck was that?!"_ he shouted angrily over the loud eighties rock music, his eyes bolting open at the forced position of his body and the ear-splitting soundtrack of _Billy Idol._ He gritted his teeth as an unbearable ache rippled throughout his body - his veins had finally realised he was lacking in blood and throbbed in the most unpleasant manner.

He shut his eyes as he grimaced loudly, biting down on his bottom lip to stop himself from screeching out in agony. He groaned loudly and wriggled side-to-side in complaint, continuing to whine loudly over the music. The engine rumbled beneath his outstretched legs straining from how much speed the vehicle had gained, the vampire still hot on their tail. Despite the focus she needed to have on the control of the car at that moment, Aemelia found herself unable to ignore the sounds of pain consistently flying out of him... she knew she would have to do something about his fresh wave of pain or she was likely to lose control of the situation entirely.

Huffing out in exasperation, she let her right hand fall from the steering wheel, glad of the presence of the loud rock music or she would have probably blown her top from the stressful situation she had been left to deal with. She swiftly reached down towards the dashboard and twisted a dial with a cigarette symbol on it, a skewed plan evolving in her head... it may have been completely unorthodox but she couldn't deal with him writhing in pain while she was trying to steer clear of the vampiric maniac behind them...

"Lean forward." she ordered in the most stoic, practical tone she could muster, and he winced as he immediately obliged her instructions, still mumbling curses of protest beneath his breath.

Aemelia made no delay in swinging her right arm back towards where he had moved, swiping her hand backwards in a purposeful strike. She blindly directed her actions towards one of Cardinal's rolled up sleeves and immediately dropped an inch or so... the searing cigarette lighter bounced into the skin of his forearm for a few split seconds and she immediately retreated once she had completed her plan... leaving him to scream out in the most high-pitched squeak she had ever heard.

_"You... you bii-hi-hiitch!"_ he squealed out, hissing out through his teeth as he flung a gloved hand over the small circle that was now branded over the skin of his arm. She ignored the temptation to laugh at how feminine his voice sounded and twisted the cigarette lighter into its rightful place, resting her mirthless eyes upon him in the rear-view mirror. He was glaring at her, his differing eyes framed by an intimidating scowl, sprigs of brown hair loosely falling down to cling to the sides of his face.

"What in Lucifer's name was _that_ for?!" he bellowed in the lowest voice he could conjure, like he was attempting to make her forget how girlish he had initially screamed. 

"Figured it would take your mind off the other pain for a while." she replied loudly without an ounce of emotion in her voice, focusing back on the vehicle that was still set on chasing them down.

He glared at her like she had lost her mind, softly rubbing the fresh circle of sore skin tissue in hopes that it would cause the burning sensation to ease. He was utterly offended at her actions but he couldn't exactly disagree with her attitude as he could no longer feel the awful aching from before. He pierced his eyes into the back of her but frowned in bewilderment when she visibly froze in her seat, her shoulders and back stiffening...

She jolted the steering wheel to the right until it locked and the screech of tyres shrieked out, the rear end of the car skidding out to the left, almost crashing into a line of diagonally parked cars. They had completely blocked the road ahead so she hadn't been left much choice other than to abide by their wishes. The car that had been tailing them had eerily come to a halt to the right side of the sedan, and Aemelia scowled, knowing that such a situation had to have been organised in some way.

She dropped gears and powered ahead, obliging their road-block despite her frustration. She wore a look of realisation on her face once she recognised the layout of the location they had forced her into, gaining a sense of strange familiarity from the sight of a variety of vehicles packed into the thick strip of car park... it appeared to be the diner they had visited earlier that day.

Cardinal slumped backwards into a more comfortable sitting position as the vehicle pulled into the cramped space of the car park, completely unaware that they were entering a place he had urged them to visit no so long ago. The bass line became more prominent as it blasted out of the speakers and he bobbed his in appreciation, softly singing along with the words as Aemelia cranked the handbrake to keep them stationary.

She peered out, following the trails of her headlights which were pointed towards a large group of individuals. They were leaning against their diverse styles of vehicles - some were bashed up and weaponized, whereas others were in pristine condition considering the age they were. The group's eyes gleamed a recognisable amber and it briefly reminded her of the sight of cats' eyes in the dark - alarming once seen, but not so scary once the explanation was fairly straight forward... apparently vampires were merely _straight forward_ to her.

She rolled down her window considering a few of them had begun to approach them and no way in _hell_ was she getting out of her seat to converse with a large group of vampires... especially considering that they looked pretty ticked off.

Cardinal was still unaware of his own whereabouts, about to sing more passionately to the song that was still blaring out. Aemelia knew she should have probably turned it down a while ago but she realised how ridiculous things probably appeared to the vampires around them... she and the cardinal were hardly taking their threats seriously and that only seemed to irk them more.

At the absence of _Rebel Yell's_ addictive melody, Copia shuffled up, finally finding he had energy to sit up straight, his eyes casually peeping out of one the windows. When an array of pallid, fang-wielding people glared back at him he fell back across the seats, blinking his eyes like he was checking that he was awake.

"They're kinda... _antsy,_ aren't they?" he blurted out, shaking his head at the animosity he had sensed emanating from them.

_"Shh!"_ she hushed quickly, a person bending down to peer through the open window at her. She could see them in her peripheral vision, their features overly perfect, their eyes begging for her to look into them. She would never give them what they wanted. 

She kept quiet, the song finally quietly ending on the tape, leaving a tense silence over the diner's car park. Footsteps began to sound out as more and more vampires emerged from the shadows, circling the car as they drooled hungrily. Hands pressed over the glass as they caught scent of the cardinal's healing wounds, the recent bites calling out to them with an abnormal amount of impure temptation. He must have seemed like a fine vintage wine to them...

Cardinal didn't appear to be concerned, still mumbling the words to the song that had been playing but his attention flew to them instead once they began salivating over the rear window.

"Yeesh. You're gonna wanna go through a _car-wash_ after this, Miss Vial."

Her eyes were also on the disgusting sight in the rear-view mirror and she winced with disgust but didn't reply to him, waiting for the vampires to make their first move so she knew where they stood.

They continued to swarm around the vehicle, panting like a pack of starving hounds, vengeance aglow in their inhumanly golden irises. The two of them must have been the ultimate prey - there was one whose veins were boiling with anger and anticipation, and the other beared the most deliciously sinful blood. The sedan wobbled as they began to growl in unison, growing impatient and feral, a few starting to scramble up to the roof of the car...

One thing that really irked Aemelia Vial was anyone that _dared_ lay a finger on her car... so when the few that managed to climb onto the roof of her sedan attempted to use their superhuman strength to slice their way into the interior of the car... she absolutely lost it. 

Her eyes blacked over, the dark entity making its presence known as her rage seemed to fuel its existence, shimmering black shadows collecting together in the atmosphere around her.

"Ok, ok, fuck it - listen up folks!" Cardinal suddenly exclaimed, his voice comically muffled from the glass of the windows. "We don't wanna harm anyone, we just wanna go home, forget this all happened, smoke a few then head to bed, you know? There is no need to have sticks up your butts, so hey, listen, we can make a deal, alright?"

He'd noticed that Miss Vial was unveiling her darkness to them despite the fact he was still utterly incoherent - _but he figured he needed to distract them from her._

The vampires continued to lick their lips hungrily at him but they didn't say a word, some others poised like they were prepared to attack as they stared at Aemelia. The black particles twirled through the air, travelling through the frame of the black sedan with ease, clinging to each panel like it was forming some kind of ethereal barrier...

From the silence of the vampires, Cardinal guessed they were at least listening and cleared his throat, weakly sitting up so that he could dust down the front of his red suit jacket. 

"We make an agreement between our two parties... ok? ... ahm... if _you_ all vow to stop preying, turning, mistreating - basically, _whatever-the-fuck_ you enjoy doing - to any associates of our Ministry - Miss Vial included - _ahm..."_

He paused and briefly scanned his eyes around the gruesome-looking group of creatures, who were now bearing their canines at him like it had only made things worse. The blackness that was eminating from Aemelia's form was starting to attract their attention and all of them started to yelp in fear, starting backwards like the stuff was about to harm them, their impossibly yellowy eyes latching onto her like she was the most threatening monster there. Cardinal continued his speech regardless of their actions, confidence lacing each of his consonants.

" - then _we_ will vow to never speak of your existence to anyone, and this night is just a drop in the ocean too. How's that sound?"

To Copia's surprise they all nodded their heads in a panicked manner, all deadly silent as the shadows clung to the lines of the car, Miss Vial's eyes still blacked out as she gritted her teeth together in annoyance.

"I... take that as a _"yes"_ then?" he asked in confusion and before they could all nod again, Aemelia audibly exhaled, unlocking the handbrake from its position so that she could slam one of her black oxford's down on the accelerator. She locked the steering wheel so she could pivot the vehicle around, tyre smoke rising up and mixing in with the particles of shadow that were still escaping her.

She easily left them all standing in bewildered (and _terrified)_ awe as the sedan rolled away, the cars that had blocked their path now parting for them as the shadowy sedan sped away from the odd gathering of vampires.

"Did... we just _negotiate_ with _vampires?!"_ Copia questioned, eyeing her with concern as the strange darkness didn't appear to be going away any time soon.

"I'm pretty sure we did, Cardinal, yes." she replied emptily, raising her head so that she could glance at him in the mirror. Her anger seemed to ease slightly as he stared back at her quizzically, the particles around them slowly flowing back towards her until the darkness over her eyes sucked into her irises, the whites of her eyes returning once again.

"So... _case solved?!"_

"I suppose so." she replied in a sadder tone, eyes focusing on the vast navy of night in front of them. "Unfortunately I think your missing Clergy members are gone once and for all. They would have easily left you as a cadaver so that's enough of a solution for me. All we can hope is that they abide by your terms, Cardinal."

He smirked and chuckled, "Heh, somehow I don't think that will be so much of an _issue..."_


	8. A Strange Conclusion

When they were both back to their more sedate Ministry professions on Monday, it was like nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. 

Cardinal performed his habitual sermon and paper-work duties, gave Papa Nihil the low-down on the solution of the case - _without mentioning the fact he was attacked_ \- and attended the infirmary to have a final check-up on his bites. Other than the itchiness of them healing up, he was still often light-headed and unfortunately it had only caused his insomnia to worsen, but he supposed it was a small price to pay to be _alive..._

He still had Miss Vial to thank but he hadn't gotten round to doing such a thing just yet. Papa Nihil was even more expectant that he worked endlessly - if he'd explained the fact he was attacked he probably wouldn't have had so much work but he wished everything to appear normal as much as possible. He really didn't want Nihil to have that sort of knowledge about him, mostly for his own pride. As a consequence, he adorned his cassock to cover as much of his skin as he could, ensuring that no one would know of the bites that were scarred across his neck and arms.

It was late-afternoon when he finally had a free slot of time to head to the apothecary, the idea of thanking her heavily on his mind. He pulled up the right sleeve of his cassock nervously, taking note of the time before he rolled his eyes at how pathetic he was for stalling himself and pounded a fist against the door.

He waited there patiently for almost a minute, and having gotten used to her by now, he shrugged and knew that she likely couldn't hear over the music she had playing. So he let himself in, entering as quietly as he could so that he wouldn't intrude on her work, closing the door after himself as softly as he could.

He sniffed in interest, the familiar scent of tobacco reaching him as his narrowed eyes set on her casually holding a lit cigarette between her fingers, a cloud of recently exhaled smoke causing her to seem like a translucent apparition to him.

Aemelia gasped at his presence and dashed towards a rounded ashtray - _which she'd set out on the sill which framed the underside of the stain-glass_ \- whispering a variety of expletives to herself. When he realised that she immediately assumed his expression of surprise meant she had to snuff it out, he waved his gloved hands at her.

"Hey, don't worry about that, I won't rat on you." he said kindly with a choked chuckle, taking a few steps closer. She raised her brows at his joke but returned to the table, which now separated the two of them as they stared at each other. She had her cigarette poised between her middle and index finger on her right hand, smoke swirling up to the rafters above.

"You aren't going to berate me for breaking one of the more important rules then?" she asked quickly, her heart still pounding from the fact he had caught her lighting one up.

_"Nah,_ the only reason we even have that rule is because of _laws..._ but we can skirt the line with some, ah? You are fine to puff anywhere you like in the old building. Just don't try it in the newer section, those detectors could detect the fumes of a _shit-stain."_

She snorted at him, which soon evolved into her throwing her head back and spewing out a surreal choked cackle. His moustache curved upwards as he smirked at her, confused at her blatant amusement but he decided to roll with it.

"Hey, you laugh, but what are we supposed to do, Miss Vial?" he asked with mock confusion, tipping his hands to the ground like he was even asking his Dark Lord the same question. "We are a Satan worshipping church, we have fucking candles _everywhere."_

Her cackle grew stronger and she had to lean forwards to steady herself, resting her weight on the left hand she had placed flat onto the alchemy station. She didn't know why she found him _hilarious_ all of a sudden, she had gritted her teeth whenever he'd made the attempt at jokes before. But now she could actually feel tears springing from her eyes and she closed them for a moment to stop herself bawling with amusement.

When her moment of laughter came to pass, she heaved an enormous relieved breath and cracked open her eyes. Eyes which widened into saucers when she felt a weight on her left shoulder, and she quickly flicked them to the source of such pressure. He had placed a firm hand on her and all she sensed from him was a strange sense of sincerity. She flicked her eyes away to glance at his face, his eyes unusually clear of any ulterior motives or questions.

"Just make sure Sister Imperator never catches you, Aemelia." he whispered, winking at her as he used his free hand to tap a finger against the end of his nose.

She gently frowned at his abrupt use of her first name but she nodded and leaned back, his hand swiftly leaving her. She took a long drag from her smouldering cigarette, closing her eyes to feel calming waves ripple through her.

"You honestly don't mind that I'm smoking here then?"

"Not at all, you should know from how much of your smoking I have already endured." he replied, knitting his eyebrows together like her smoking in the sedan was some kind of _ordeal._

"I suppose. It's just a bit different when you consider that this is your place of worship." she responded in a more serious tone, her eyes falling to the floor as another depressing thought suddenly entered her head.

"I couldn't give _two shits_ , Miss Vial." he snapped passionately and she immediately raised her eyes to his, inhaling sharply to stop herself from laughing again - she was having quite some trouble doing so. "If what you hold in your hand makes you feel better then so be it, I am not going to stop you. You are showing your freedom to relax the way you wish to, how my superiors fail to see that I will _never_ know. Of course, you are... quite an _exception_ anyway, but hey, they are not aware of the darkness that resides as a part of you."

A silence fell between them, and her jovial manner ceased to be. She nodded her head as she repeated his last sentence in her mind, her eyes shining as she inhaled and exhaled each new cloud of smoke.

"I will never tell a soul, you know? I will take it to my grave." Cardinal piped up in a whisper, his hushed actions almost hinting that he probably didn't trust his own church - someone could very well have been _eavesdropping_ for all he knew. 

"Good to know." she replied with a nod, sighing like the topic of conversation was trivial but in reality she was finding his sincerity a bit too overwhelming. "How are the bites doing?"

"Aw man... They're real fuckin' _itchy._ That's the last time I try picking up at a club full of vampires." he answered with a wince, mentally noting how quickly she had diverted the conversation.

"Good call." she assured with a smile, trailing her eyes over the locations of the bites even though they were very well covered. "At least you can say that propositioning vampires is off your bucket list now."

He chuckled and shook his head at her, watching her take another load of nicotine in.

"Just how old do you think I am, Miss Vial?" he questioned with mock hurt, crossing his arms over his chest with an over-dramatic pout. 

"Not sure, really." she sighed out casually and exhaled a small tornado of smoke into his face as a consequence, his gloves hurriedly wafting it away from his person. "You're either close to death, or still on the approach to puberty. I can't quite decide."

He opened his mouth but quickly shut it again, rendered completely speechless. To save the atmosphere growing anymore uncomfortable, he raised his hands up in surrender and shuffled backwards, narrowing his eyes at her like she'd truly annoyed him... and soon scraped his back against the door of the apothecary.

_"Ah shit..."_ he muttered as he quickly scrambled around to hide himself from her scrutinising gaze, flinging the door open so that he could escape the awkward atmosphere of the apothecary. As soon as the door slammed behind him he breathed a heavy sigh of relief and leaned his back against it, closing his eyes for a moment to calm himself.

He couldn't help feeling like he was acting more like the part of the fool with every interaction that he had with Miss Vial. He truly couldn't stop acting so ridiculous when he was in her presence, so he would have to just sit back and embrace it.

After all, it wasn't like she was going anywhere any time soon.

He suddenly remembered something and leaned his head backwards, the back of his skull loudly thumping against the wood of the door.

_"Ah shit,_ I forgot to thank her..."


End file.
